the role of a father
by ohmytheon
Summary: After five long years, Roy finally gets to celebrate a holiday that he never thought he would before - and both he and his daemon are very nervous.


**Author's Notes:** So the request asked for all fluff and, well, there's only a little angst in this, but it's past angst, so it doesn't really count. Roy just gets really introspective a lot, so blame him. Besides that, this is one of the cutest things I've written. Thanks to everyone who actually wants to read this ridiculous Super AU.

Disclaimer: I own nada.

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 **the role of a father**

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Throughout the entire day, Roy couldn't help but notice that Shula seemed…nervous. She couldn't stay still: sitting down and then standing up, prowling around the large room, stretching here and there, her eyes shifting to the door whenever she thought she heard a noise outside. For once, he didn't need to be connected to her to know how she felt. He could easily read it in the way she behaved. Her tail swished irritably and she struggled to keep her claws from digging into the floor.

It would've been amusing if he hadn't been antsy as well.

The day dragged on, however. Normally, Shula loved lounging in the Fuhrer's office. There was a chase lounge that she loved to lie down on and nap normally, but she couldn't even stand to lay on there for longer than a few minutes. Her ears flicked every time Riza and Wojciech walked into the room, but said nothing. Riza would smile and Wojciech would bump playfully into the lion daemon. They knew how nervous the two of them were and they were enjoying it. Roy, for his part, tried to focus on work to keep his mind fully distracted. When Riza and Wojciech had left earlier at three as they always did, both Roy and Shula had watched them enviously.

By the end of the day though, when the sun was starting its downward descent, Roy flopped back in his chair and swiveled around. "Is the day over yet?"

Havoc shook his head, looking just as miserable, and handed him a few more papers. "These requests need to be decided on before tomorrow."

Roy snatched the papers out of the other man's hands and glared down at them. "Who the hell sent in requests at the last min-?" He caught the signature at the bottom of the first page and literally growled. "General bloody Moore, of course. It's not my fault that the man's progeny are as rotten as him and he doesn't care about today. He did this on purpose."

Even worse was the fact that Roy couldn't just blow though them. He wasn't a mere Colonel anymore and the chances of Moore slipping in something that would bite him in the ass later were definite. So he set to work reading through the requests, Shula pacing by the door. Havoc stood to the side, ready to take the papers and run with them the second Roy was done, Hiroko flopped down on her back at his feet. While Havoc was trying to pretend he was patient, Hiroko had no qualms about displaying her frustration and acting out. Shula didn't even bother telling her off.

Once he was finally finished, Roy handed the papers off and Havoc and Hiroko all but run out the door. With the paperwork turned in, they would be able to leave. Roy put away what he didn't need and slipped out of the room, Shula right at his heels. By the time he made it to the doors, Havoc and Hiroko were already there with the car, Havoc breathing heavily from rushing so quickly. Hiroko had a happy tongue lolling out, looking ready to run another mile.

Upon getting in the back of the car, Roy forced himself to relax. Shula sat tense at his side, looking out the window at the passing buildings. He put a hand on her back, but the action didn't soothe her like it once had. Roy found that he missed their connection the most during these times: what had once been comforting was now nothing. Still, the simple touch kept him grounded and helped him remember that he was never alone, even when he felt like it sometimes.

Hiroko swung her head back to look at them. "Any special plans tonight?"

"I don't know," Roy admitted. "We were supposed to go to the park earlier, but then those last minute requests came in."

"I'm sure Riza made a back up plan," the German Shepherd daemon pointed out. Hiroko had almost always been open with Roy from the beginning of Havoc's time on the team. She was one of the friendliest daemons he'd ever met. It took most daemons time to open up to people outside of their own humans, but Hiroko had surprised him from the start by asking questions and talking in Havoc's stead sometimes. Still, he thought that she had stepped up further after Riza's discharge. No one could take Wojciech's place on the team, but Hiroko had worked the closest with Riza's wolf daemon outside of Shula.

"You look nervous, boss," Havoc said. Roy caught the cheeky grin on his face when they connected eyes in the rearview mirror. "You think he forgot?"

"It doesn't matter," Roy replied, Shula shifting irritably in her seat. "It's just another day."

"Outside of Christmas and Rebecca's birthday, it's my favorite day of the year," Havoc sighed wistfully.

Roy gritted his teeth and returned his gaze to outside the window. The truth was that he was kind of scared that the day had been forgotten. After all, they'd had no cause to celebrate it earlier. It hadn't been allowed. Even the times he was able to slip to them in secret, they had never brought up this day. It would look all too suspicious if Roy came around on a day like this and so he had purposely put distance between them. This day was nothing special. It wasn't important. It was better if maybe it had been left forgotten.

But honestly, the idea that Roy would actually be able to spend some part of Father's Day with Aidan for the first time both excited and scared him.

How had Aidan fared on this day of the year before? Roy had never had the courage to ask Riza. Had he gone to preschool and been forced to watch as other kids played with their fathers while he had no one? Had he watched as Havoc swung Bran high in the air and Bran hugged him tightly while he was left alone? Had he ever questioned Riza on why Roy had never come over or they didn't do anything together or had he merely accepted that Roy wouldn't show? Roy didn't know which one hurt worse: Aidan being upset by Roy's absence or Aidan expecting it.

Roy had never handled the holiday himself, torn between drinking himself silly and working until the early hours of the night. He'd either try to bury himself in his alchemy research to keep himself distracted or he'd drag himself to Madam Christmas' where his foster mother would have pity on him and also a few sharp words.

 _"You knew what you were committing yourself to when you and Riza made this decision,"_ Madam Christmas would say even as she poured him another drink.

 _"But I miss them,"_ Roy would mumble, sounding suspiciously like a whining four year-old boy. And he had. He had missed them something terrible. Even as he sunk at the bar, Madam Christmas' Amon would perch on top of Shula and preen at her. The raven soothed Shula's misery, but would shoot dark, unreadable glances when his normal gentle touches did nothing to help Roy in return. He'd always liked it when Amon took special care to Shula when he was so distant with other people. Their severing had done more than just damage things between Roy and Riza, however.

Today though he wouldn't be missing them. He would be coming home to them. When Riza had left earlier, it had been to pick Aidan and his Atsuko up from school. Bright for his age, he was already in his first year, something that made both Roy and Shula terribly proud. The two of them had yearned to go with her and spend the entire afternoon and night with them, but being the Fuhrer meant no such luxuries. The car ride to the Fuhrer's mansion felt as long as the day even though it was a short drive.

"He didn't forget what today is," Havoc suddenly said as he drove through the gate and pulled into the driveway.

"How do you know?" Shula asked when Roy could not voice his fears.

"Because I know for a fact that he's been looking forward to celebrating this day," Havoc told him. "I could see it in the kid's eyes every time this day came around." He parked the car and looked in the backseat to give Roy a reassuring grin. "Trust me; it'll be worth the wait."

"I should never have made him wait in the first place," Roy said quietly.

"But it's over now," Havoc pointed out. "Go inside and enjoy being a father. I know I will when I get home. Bran and Ally promised me cake for dinner."

Nodding his head, Roy got out of the car and stepped to the side to allow Shula to crawl out. Her gaze focused on the large mansion as Havoc and Hiroko drove away. He scratched her behind the ears, just the way she liked, and then started for the door. However, before he was even halfway there, the door burst open and Aidan flooded out of it, Atsuko flying after him in the form of a fruit bat. He didn't greet him in excitement or shout anything, just ran as fast as his little legs could carry him. Roy instinctively bent down to pick Aidan up underneath the arms at the right moment and pull him against his chest.

"You missed lunch at school!" Aidan exclaimed, though not accusingly. His school had allowed fathers to come have lunch with their kids today. Roy had desperately wanted to go, but there had been so much to do that he hadn't been able to squeeze thirty minutes out of his schedule. It had left him moody all day, but all that anger seeped out of him as Aidan wrapped his arms around Roy's neck. "But I know you had important stuff at work. Mom said you were super busy."

"She was right about that," Roy said as he started for the door again, "but not as important as you. I'm sorry I missed it, Bug."

At his feet, Atsuko changed from a bat to a lion cub, slipping in between Shula's legs and bumping her belly with the top of his head. Shula laughed as she tried to keep up with the younger daemon, who was slippery and small. She managed to knock her down with a hardy lick, nuzzling her nose against her belly, before picking her up carefully by the scruff of her neck like lioness did their own cubs in the wild. Atsuko giggled, unhurt, and wiggled her feet, but didn't fight. It was like she was being carried by Shula as Roy carried Aidan.

In the doorway, Riza stood leaning against the threshold, a small smile on her face. She was in casual clothes, looking relaxed and content. When Roy leaned in to kiss her, Aidan covered his face with his hands, causing Roy to grin. It felt so…normal, so wonderfully and stunningly normal. Coming home from work, holding his son, greeting his wife with a kiss. It didn't feel real at the same time. He'd never dreamed that his life would turn out this way. He had half-expected to be fighting for the rest of his life and yet here he was, white picket fence (well, black iron gate) and all.

Despite it being in broad daylight and guards around to see, Wojciech brushed past Riza so that he could bump into Roy's side and Roy slid his fingers through the wolf's soft gray fur. The gentle warmth of Riza's happiness and love washed over him as he touched her soul. It didn't matter if people saw them now. Roy didn't have to hide how much he loved them, how much he craved Wojciech's touch sometimes, how much he needed this. He didn't have to pretend that he wasn't a father or lover or anything like that.

Upon Shula setting her down on the ground, Atsuko changed into a wolf pup, leaping to nip at Wojciech's swishing tail. Wojciech nipped back, though missing Atsuko on purpose. It was so amusing to see Atsuko stand in between Shula and Wojciech, who were both so large compared to Aidan's growing daemon. She liked switching in between playing as both of them, flittering from wolf to lion as she energetically ran around. Fierce-looking and daunting as they were, Roy's and Riza's daemons became almost tame when Atsuko was around, gentle and compassionate as could be. Wojciech would be silly to make Atsuko laugh and Shula would act helpless whenever she let Atsuko attack her.

Seeing his soul like that almost made Roy feel as if the connection between them was gone. There were days when he was certain that he could feel the thrum of Shula's heart when Aidan and Atsuko were around. Today was one of those days. Aidan laughed and clapped his hands as Shula rolled onto the ground and Atsuko jumped on top of her, proudly proclaiming victory, only for Wojciech to pick her off, giving her enough room to change into a baby lemur and crawl into Wojciech's back. Roy could've sworn that he could feel just how pleased Shula was already.

"So what do you want to do tonight?" Roy asked as they moved inside.

"It's late for the park, but…" Aidan fiddled with his fingers, an apprehensive look crossing his face. No doubt he'd been working on this idea since he had come to the realization that Roy would not make it home in time for their original plan. "Can we go to the movies? We've never gone now that you can be my dad there."

Roy took a shaky breath before he smiled and reached a hand up to smooth Aidan's messy dark hair down. "Of course we can go to the movies. That sounds like a blast."

Riza put a hand on his back to steady him as he set his son down and watched Aidan and Atsuko cheer and play with one another. Sometimes, Aidan was able to say things that got right to the heart of the issue, whether he realized it or not. Roy had tried to forget how the rules that Riza had set up for Aidan back before he and Riza had gotten engaged. Roy could only be his father in certain places. The movies had not been one of them, being in public. That was how he had been forced to view things.

But now it wasn't a matter of where Roy could be his dad. He was his dad - anywhere, everywhere, all the time. Roy was his father and this was his day with his son, a day that he'd never had before. He couldn't remember celebrating Father's Day with his own father, though he surely must have done so, but he would finally be able to make new memories on a day that had irritated him at best whenever Hughes would gush about it before.

 _I wish you could see me now,_ Hughes, Roy thought to himself. _I bet Niamh would never stop gloating._

All those times that Roy had thought that Hughes was exaggerating he now knew were undoubtedly true. The man had been right and would've deserved the right to gloat. Roy had been deluding himself for years into thinking that he would never want this kind of life. Shula pressed her head into the small of his back, like she used to do back when they were teenagers and he was unaware of what the future held for him. It had held a lot of horrific dark times for them both, but looking at Aidan and Riza now with their daemons at their side, Roy could not see anything brighter or more hopeful.


End file.
